Onsite Workshops at Simmons College Campus

Managing the Cycle: Contracting with Vendors from Budgeting to Negotiation and Deployment to Measuring Return on Investment (ROI) and Back

Saturday, August 2, 2008
9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Simmons College Campus, One Palace Road Bldg. Room P-207
Cost: $160

Whether in an academic, public, or special library, you or someone on your team inevitably has to deal with vendors and contracting for resources to meet the needs of your customers. You need to find the best ways to select, acquire, pay for, deploy, and measure the ROI of these resource investments. This workshop will focus on basic processes and ways to think about managing the resource acquisition cycle from budgeting to negotiating with vendors and deploying content, to measuring the Return on Investment (ROI) and methods for recovering costs when appropriate. The session will be highly participatory and attendees are encouraged to share their current processes and challenges to enhance the take-aways. Participants who are new to the resource acquisition process and others who are seeking alternatives to their current methods will develop new ways to think about and implement contracting for resources.

Faculty: Dr. Toby Pearlstein, GSLIS Alum, Retired Director, Global IS Bain & Company, Inc.; toby.pearlstein@comcast.net. and Dr. Mary Ann Tricarico, GSLIS Alum, Library Director, New England Institute of Art; mtricarico@aii.edu

Bring an Author to Your Library

Saturday, October 4, 2008
9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Simmons College Campus, One Palace Road Bldg, Room TBA
Cost: $160 (Simmons GSLIS Alums $125)

Author visits are invigorating both for visiting authors and program participants. In this workshop learn how to select an author appropriate for your audience, locate the author, negotiate a speaking fee, and publicize the visit. Class participants should bring with them the names of 3 authors whom they would like to contact.

Faculty: Stephen Weiner is the Director of the Maynard Public Library in Maynard, Massachusetts. Over the past 20 years he has sponsored over 100 author visit programs. His book, Bring an Author to Your Library, was published by Highsmith Press in 1993; SWeiner@minlib.net

Around the World in 80 Days: A Visual Tour of Academic, Public, and School Libraries Throughout the World

Saturday, October 4, 2008
9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Simmons College Campus, One Palace Road Bldg, Room TBA
Cost: $160 (Simmons GSLIS Alums $125)

A half-day workshop that will take participants on a visual tour of several academic, public, and state libraries in the US and abroad. In addition to the visuals there will be information about costs, collection and seating capacities, and commentary on what works and does not work in some of the buildings. A CD of the visuals will be provided at no charge to the workshop participants.

Faculty: Richard Waters is a full-time library consultant with 23 years of full-time experience. He has consulted with libraries in 44 of the 50 states as well as internationally; rlwaters37@gmail.com

Archives 2.0

Saturday, October 4, 2008
9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Simmons College, One Palace Road Bldg, Room TBA
Cost: $160

With the world gone mad for all things digital, it's hard to remember that many organizations are still struggling at the rudimentary levels of online activities and technical innovation. However, there is a great deal that a small institution can do with little or no money. Archivist Jessica Steytler will examine available options, illustrated by examples of her work at the Congregational Library (currently undergoing a transformation from quiet and sleepy library to study center of the future). Technologies that will be discussed are wikis, Google Documents/Partnership, Ning – the alternative to social networking, and RSS feeds. Participants will have a chnce to explore these tools during the class.

Faculty: Jessica Steytler, GSLIS Alum, Archivist, Congregational Library, Boston, www.congregationallibrary.org; jessica.steytler@gmail.com

Patent Research Fundamentals

Saturday, October 18, 2008
9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Simmons College Campus, One Palace Road Bldg, Room TBA
Cost: $160 (Simmons GSLIS Alums $125)

What is a patent and where do I find one? That is just one of the many questions that will be answered in this class. We will go over the basic fundamentals regarding patent searching and the terminology used by the professional researchers or attorneys. We will take a look at the special online databases used for research both fee and free and learn how to use them. Typical everyday patent requests will be discussed and how best to answer them. At the conclusion of the class you will understand the research assignments that are being requested and how to handle them more effectively.

Faculty: Kim Martin is a Reference Librarian at Goodwin Procter LLP; kimmartin199ma@gmail.com

Dreamweaver 1 for Information Professionals

Saturday, October 18, 2008
9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Simmons College, One Palace Road Bldg. Room P-213L
Cost: $160 (Simmons GSLIS Alum $125)

Webpages are becoming the foremost point of contact with patrons. Thus, information professionals must have the tools to create attractive and effective websites. Dreamweaver is a powerful web editor that gives you the tools to build sophisticated interactive sites with ease. In this hands-on workshop, we will cover the basics of getting started with this program. Topics will include page properties, text editing, inserting images, browser preview, text and image links, page and site links, and e-mail links. Class limited to 12.

Faculty:Kathleen Horton, Instructional Designer at Fidelity Investments, Boston; misshorton@aol.com

Dreamweaver 2 for Information Professionals

Saturday, October 18, 2008
1:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Simmons College, One Palace Road Bldg. Room P-213L
Cost: $160 (Simmons GSLIS Alum $125)

Webpages are becoming the foremost point of contact with patrons. Thus, information professionals must have the tools to create attractive and effective websites. Once you have mastered the basics of Dreamweaver 1, come to Dreamweaver 2 to explore more sophisticated possibilities for your webpages. In this hands-on workshop, we will cover tables, frames, templates, image maps, navigation bars, animated rollovers, and site builder. Class limited to 12.

Faculty:Kathleen Horton, Instructional Designer at Fidelity Investments, Boston; misshorton@aol.com

Taxonomies and Controlled Vocabularies

Saturday, October 25, 2008
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Simmons College Campus, One Palace Road Bldg.
Cost: $220 (Simmons GSLIS Alum $175)

Taxonomies are becoming popular for organizing information in business knowledge management, enterprise content management systems, and intranets. Are these taxonomies different from literature retrieval thesauri? How does one go about creating a taxonomy? This workshop will provide recommended best practices for how to create terms, relationships, and variants for different kinds of taxonomies or controlled vocabularies, and will also introduce different software tools for doing so. Whether you need to create a taxonomy to organize information on a web site, classify information in a content management system, establish a controlled vocabulary for a periodical or database indexing project, or simply understand how to use them better, this workshop will get you on your way.

Faculty: Heather Hedden, is Principal at Hedden Information Management, manager of the Taxonomies & Controlled Vocabularies special interest group of the American Society for Indexing, formerly a Controlled Vocabulary Editor at Gale/Information Access Company, and author of "Indexing Specialties: Web Sites"; heather@hedden.net

Introduction to GIS and Online Mapping for Librarians

Saturday, November 8, 2008
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Simmons College, One Palace Road Bldg, Room P-213
Cost: $220 (Simmons GSLIS Alum $175)

Explore the world of digital mapping! Geographic Information Systems (GIS), offer a dynamic digital environment for visualizing and analyzing geographic information. Learn the basics of creating your own maps using ArcGIS and then see how you can use the tools built into the software to analyze the data. We’ll also delve into several online, open source mapping tools that you can use from anywhere with an internet connection. The use of GIS is becoming ubiquitous across disciplines and ever-increasing numbers of libraries are offering these services in response to patrons’ requests. Come and learn the fundamentals and you’ll understand why. No prior understanding or experience with maps or mapping is required for this course.

Faculty: Heather McCann, Reference Coordinator, Rotch Library, MIT, hmccann@mit.edu; and Lisa Sweeney, Head of GIS Services, MIT, lsweeney@mit.edu

Indexing Application in Print and Digital Media

Saturday, November 8, 2008
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Simmons College, One Palace Road Bldg, Room TBA
Cost: $220 (Simmons GSLIS Alum $175)

In this workshop, participants learn the theoretical guidelines and practical skills for writing a back-of-the-book index, and then apply that knowledge to indexes for online media: hypertext documentation, online help, and basic information architecture. Fundamental topics include topic inclusion, subentry construction, locators and cross references, language selection, entry sorting, and usability concerns. Lively in-class discussion is encouraged, and any additional topics (e.g., tools, careers, deadlines, subject specialties) will be introduced by request.

Faculty: Seth Maislin is a leader in the indexing industry. He is past-president of the American Society for Indexing; managing partner of the indexing firm Potomac Indexing, LLC; and founder of the techindexing community. He teaches a comprehensive remote-learning class on indexing through Middlesex Community College and has spoken at numerous conferences and companies. A long-time freelance indexer and mentor, you can learn more about him at his website at http://taxonomist.tripod.com and his company at http://www.potomacindexing.com; seth.maislin@potomacindexing.com

The ABC's of Sustainable Time Management

Saturday, November 8, 2008
9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Simmons College, One Palace Road Bldg, Room TBA
Cost: $160 (Simmons GSLIS Alum $125)

Most time management tips and techniques feel like just another item on the To-Do List. Sustainable time management, on the other hand, addresses fundamental issues at the core of the trouble. The ABCs of sustainable time management cultivate Attention that’s flexible or focused as needed, Boundaries that both protect you and connect you to others, and Choices made in tune with your truest values. Through group and solo experiences, you’ll learn specific techniques to deal with interruptions, others’ intrusions on your time management plans, fuzzy priorities, procrastination, being overwhelmed, reminder systems, email overload, and more. Sustainable time management offers not only relief from your time troubles but also increased satisfaction, freedom, and engagement with life. The class functions as a lab so you will practice time management as you learn about it.

Faculty: Pamela Kristan, author of "The Spirit of Getting Organized: 12 Skills to Find Meaning & Power In Your Stuff", has been teaching time management since 1985. She has moderated regional speak-outs for National Take Back Your Time Day. She has given workshops for library staff throughout New England and for the Special Librarians Association; www.pamelakristan.com; pam@pamelakristan.com

Encoded Archival Description (EAD)

Saturday, November 8, 2008
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Simmons College, One Palace Road Bldg, Room TBA
Cost: $220 (Simmons GSLIS Alum $175)

By making use of SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language) and XML (eXtensible Markup Language), archivists are able to provide unparalleled access to finding aids via complex searches, as well as significantly improved navigational capability for moving within the text of each finding aid. This workshop includes introductory information about SGML/XML and EAD (Encoded Archival Description), the specific document type definition designed for archival finding aids. In addition, it will profile tools necessary to complete an EAD project. The recommended pre-workshop readings will be available via the WWW.

The bulk of the workshop will be devoted to learning how to mark up finding aids in XML. It will begin with an introduction to the tag library (the extensive list of elements allowed in EAD), followed by time for participants to mark up two short finding aids. The intent of this workshop is to offer a basic introduction to the EAD tag set and to provide an opportunity for hands-on experience with markup of EAD documents.

Faculty: Kimberly H. Brookes, Director of User Services, Technology, Simmons College, kim.brookes@simmons.edu; and Susan J. von Salis, Curator of Archives, Harvard University Art Museums, susan_vonsalis@Harvard.edu

Global Arts Bookmaking

Saturday, November 15, 2008
10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Simmons College, One Palace Road Bldg, Room TBA
Cost: $220 (Simmons GSLIS Alum $175)

Join us on this global book arts journey as we learn about world cultures and artistic traditions. In this hands-on workshop, we will learn about book arts from around the world through building a series of multi-cultural bookmaking projects. We will explore the influences of culture and religion on the arts of the book, and the impact of certain materials and technologies. A number of simple book structures will be introduced with a range of suggestions for creating content. These structures are simple enough for use in the classroom yet elegant enough for personal artistic expression.

Participants will see a variety of sample books, discuss tools and materials, build models, practice writing and illustration exercises, and experiment with decorative art materials. Curriculum applications will be discussed, with adaptations for a variety of grade levels.

Class limited to 15. A materials fee of $15 is included in the workshop price.

Faculty:Jeannie Hunt, book artist, illustrator and education specialist. BA Smith College, MA Cultural Council Creative Teaching Partner; jmhunt95@verizon.net, www.oneheartarts.com

Photoshop for Information Professionals

Saturday, November 15, 2008
9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Simmons College, One Palace Road Bldg, Room TBA
Cost: $160 (Simmons GSLIS Alum $125)

Do you have digital images that you would like to post on your organization's website or on your personal one? If so, this class is for you! This hands-on workshop will teach you how to use Adobe Photoshop to create web graphics. We will examine image resolution for web images vs. print images; and we will work with the web's two most important graphic file formats, GIF and JPEG. You will learn how to create the best-looking web images with the lowest file sizes possible. Through step-by-step, hands-on exercises, you will learn the techniques for sizing and cropping photographs, making color adjustments, using web-safe colors, working with type and layers, creating GIF images with simple transparency, and creating navigation devices, such as banners, buttons, triangles and navigation bars. Class limited to 12.

Faculty:Kathleen Horton, Instructional Designer at Fidelity Investments, Boston; misshorton@aol.com

So, How Do I Plan (or Modify) My Building for Technology?

Saturday, December 6, 2008
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Simmons College, One Palace Road Bldg, Room TBA
Cost: $220 (Simmons GSLIS Alum $175)

A one-day workshop designed to assist libraries and librarians and their architects in planning both the needed space and the all-important infrastructure in order to be able to take full advantage of all that technology can offer – and what it cannot offer. The final segment of the workshop will deal with cost estimating – planning costs, design costs, construction costs, furnishing costs, contingencies – how to arrive at a reliable total cost estimate for library building technology.

How Much Space do You Really Need and How Much Will It Cost?

Saturday, March 14, 2009
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Simmons College, One Palace Road Bldg, Room TBA
Cost: $220 (Simmons GSLIS Alum $175)

A one-day workshop designed to explore all facets of library space planning for all types of libraries in order to determine in a clear and logical manner how – in the early stages of planning – a library can accurately develop its space needs whether planning for a totally new facility, expansion of an existing structure, or renovating an older library building. The different types of spaces, e.g. meeting rooms, bookstacks, IT lab, are discussed and the elements that constitute each space are discussed. Participants will know how to project the space needs of their library over a 20-year period. The final segment of the workshop will deal with cost estimating – planning costs, design costs, construction costs, furnishing costs, contingencies – how to arrive a reliable total project cost. All workshop participants will receive, at no additional cost, a copy of the consultant’s “An Architectural Dictionary for Librarians.”

Practical Keyword Invention

Saturday, March 14, 2009
9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Simmons College, One Palace Road Bldg, Room TBA
Cost: $160 (Simmons GSLIS Alum $125)

Knowing how to control a vocabulary is important, but what if you don’t have a vocabulary? This workshop provides participants with a simple algorithm for inventing all those words you forgot to invent last time, along with several practical examples. Whether you’re an indexer looking to lengthen your index, or a website owner looking to get more Google hits, you’ll appreciate a fast, fresh look at words, words, and more unencumbered words.

Faculty:Seth Maislin is a leader in the indexing industry. He is past-president of the American Society for Indexing; managing partner of the indexing firm Potomac Indexing, LLC; and founder of the techindexing community. He teaches a comprehensive remote-learning class on indexing through Middlesex Community College and has spoken at numerous conferences and companies. A long-time freelance indexer and mentor, you can learn more about him at his website at http://taxonomist.tripod.com and his company at http://www.potomacindexing.com; seth.maislin@potomacindexing.com

Revitalize Your Library Career

Saturday, March 21, 2009
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Simmons College, One Palace Road Bldg, Room TBA
Cost: $220 (Simmons GSLIS Alum $175)

Does any of this sound familiar?

"I've been out of the library field for a while and I'd like to get back into it, but it looks like things have changed a lot. I need some help getting up to date on all the new skills and trends."

"Now that I've been working as a librarian for a while, I think I'd like to switch career directions (from public to academic, reference to systems, or....) I've heard this is hard to do, and I'm not sure how to go about it."

"I really enjoy the LIS profession, but I'd like to explore other possibilities besides librarianship, such as records management, research, or vendor relations."

If so, or if you'd just like to be sure your skills are keeping up with new developments in the LIS field, this workshop is for you. As a participant, you will build an individualized toolkit for career revitalization. First, learn how to assess your current skills and compare them with expectations in today's LIS job market; next, identify the transferable skills you bring to a desired position; and finally, create a plan to address any potential gaps. We will cover online career research tools, informational interviewing, continuing education, job shadowing, and alternatives to traditional library jobs, as well as websites and blogs providing the latest trends in information services and technology. You will also receive a resource guide and an opportunity to continue our discussion through the workshop blog. A brief reading list (optional) will be available prior to the workshop.

Faculty:Kelly Jo Woodside, Information Literacy Librarian, Simmons College; woodside@simmons.edu, and Cheryl Kohen, Career Resource Librarian, Simmons College; cheryl.kohen@simmons.edu